User:Clockmaster82/sandbox/Loetscher AG

Loetscher AG Cuckoo clocks have been made for several centuries and are most famously linked to the Black Forest area in Germany. In the 19th century, Swiss clockmakers contributed a unique Chalet style to the cuckoo clocks. Of these originators, Loetscher AG is the only genuine Swiss chalet cuckoo clock maker still in existence today. Loetscher is located in Brienz, a small picturesque village on the north end of Lake Brienz in Switzerland. Brienz is internationally known for its wood-carving artisans, and located in this town is Switzerland's only wood-carving school. The Loetscher family began building their chalet cuckoo clocks in 1920, and have continued hand-making them since. Their most popular design is based on the actual chalet which served as their first workshop. Several natural resources local to the Brienz area are used in the clocks. Linden wood is a light-weight wood with straight grain; it is harvested from trees of the Tilia cordata species. The wood is properly dried before carving to prevent cracks as it ages. Sand and pebbles from the shores of Lake Brienz are also gathered and used to make the flowers and water features of the clocks. Part of the aesthetics of the cuckoo clocks is the music played on the half-hour and hour, activated by the clockworks within. Before they began making cuckoo clocks, Loetscher made music boxes in the form of Swiss chalets. They still use music works made by the Swiss music box maker, Reuge, located in the city of St. Croix near Lausanne. The two melodies offered in their clocks are Edelweiss (which many non-locals believe is a Swiss or Austrian folk song but was actually written for The Sound of Music musical in 1959), and The Happy Wanderer, a German song written by Florenz Friedrich Sigismund. One further notable feature of Loetscher's cuckoo clocks is their homage to several Swiss fictional and real heroes, Heidi and Peter of the Heidi novel by Joanna Spyri, and Barry the St. Bernard dog, who lived at the St. Bernard de Menthon hospice and monastery and saved the lives of at least 40 travelers in the 2400-meter mountain pass between Italy and Switzerland. These characters are hand-carved from linden wood as well and used in the scenic designs of many of Loetscher clocks. ...